Queen of the seas :

Mentiones often In the Bible, Tyre was probably founded at the start of the third millennium BC. It was originally made up of two parts: the coastal city and some small islands.

The city was celebrated in antiquity for the mrchant fleet that plied Mediterranean, trading in glass, purple dye and cedar wood, and bringing prosperity to its people.

Tyre's most glorious period was in the 10th century BC, when king Hiram enlarged the city. According to legend it was from here that the Princess Europa was abducted by the god Zeus to what is now Europe, and it was she who gave her name to the continent. She was followed by her brother, Cadmos who carried the alphabet to the Greeks.

The glory of Tyre spread far beyond its borders, extending to the various colonies founded on the shores of the Mediterranean.

But it soon attracted the envy of the world's great conquerors including Nabuchadnezzar king of Babylon, who besieged the city for thirteen years. In 332 BC it was the turn of Alexander the great, who sacked and burned Tyre after seven months of siege. This he achieved bt building a causeway linking the land city to the island.

Gradually, over the course of history, the causeway filled with sand and the city became a peninsula.

Today Tyre holds many traces of its rich past. On what was originally the island is a Roman city with streets paved in mosaics and bordered by columned porticos that seem to march directly into the sea. A short distance away are the remains of an imposing cathedral built by the Crusaders and in which the kings of Jerusalem were crowned.

In another part of the town extends a huge necropolis with many impressive sarcophagi dating to the first centuries AD. This exceptional site continues along a Roman road dominated by a triumphal arch that gurads the entrance to an immense Roman hippodrome nearly 500 meters long. Because of its invaluable archaeological remains, in 1979 UNESCO made Tyre a World Heritage City.

Visitors to Tyre are welcome to the Government Resthouse which offers accommodation, a restaurant and other facilities.